Kwikrink news

In a world of constant stimulation and entertainment, helping your business to stand out in a crowded market can be a real challenge. Whether you are searching for a new attraction for your hotel, seeking a unique selling point for your convention center, or trying to help your resort transform into the one to watch, we have a secret weapon up our sleeve. Welcome to the world of rental custom ice rinks!

You may be under the impression that you will need lots of space, a bottomless budget, and a lot of maintenance to install an ice rink on your premises, but renting a synthetic ice rink will eliminate many of these obstacles.

A synthetic ice rink is the chance to put your business and brand on the map for all the right reasons. Whether you want to attract new customers, pull off a once in a lifetime event, or simply cement yourself in the mind of your market, this can be a real chance to offer something totally different, without the financial burden of an initial outlay, or the headache of ongoing maintenance.

Here at KwikRink, we take care of the details, allowing you to sit back and reap the benefits!

Why Choose a Custom Synthetic Ice Rink

There is a long list of advantages to adding a synthetic ice rink to your business; we have a few listed here!

Offers a talking point

Many hotels offer swimming pools, games rooms, and even cinemas and theatres. Standing out can be difficult, and the rise of the internet and social media means that competition is increasingly cutthroat. Offering an ice rink is something unique, and can be a fantastic marketing focus.

A unique form of exercise

An increasing number of customers are focusing more energy on their health and well-being. So fitness centers are becoming an increasingly common feature of convention centers and hotels in particular.

There is also the chance to open the rink to participants outside the hotel and offer up the resource to members of the public. This increased access means you are not only making the most of every guest, but you are also making sure that the rink continues to generate revenue even if you are having a quiet season.

Boost time spent on site

One of the significant advantages of an on-site rink is that it ensures your guests have everything they need right there in one location. This convenience is especially true if they have children or young families; ice rinks are a particular appeal here and encourages your clientele to stay at the hotel rather than heading out to off-site activities.

Having a great reason to “stay in” will also mean that guests are far more likely to avail themselves of on-site facilities, such as restaurants, spas, arcades, and fitness programs. More customers at these facilities is a boost to your total income, and will help the rink to pay for itself!

Offering extra activities

Having a rink within your business opens up a whole new stream of revenue, which has the potential to be super lucrative! From late-night ice shows to the chance to witness demonstrations from the professionals, and even the opportunity to offer lessons and courses from the comfort of the hotel, the possibilities are limitless.

Families are big business and have the potential to generate some serious revenue, and offering birthday parties with an experiential theme can be part of that potential. These can be offered as part of a hotel package, or opened up to external parties and non-guests!

Christmas is another fantastic opportunity to boost profit, and a skating rink can really bring in the cash during the festive period – this is guaranteed to be a talking point and give your guests a holiday to remember!

Installing a custom ice rink can soon recoup its initial investment if utilized correctly, and this can also prove a brilliant marketing point for your business by offering yet another way to stand out in a crowded market!

Low maintenance amenity

One of the upsides to a synthetic ice rental rink is that the maintenance and upkeep are left mainly to the rental company. This frees you up to focus on staffing your new amenity and other aspects of your business, such as marketing and making the most of the rink to attract maximum attention and use.

Synthetic ice does not require extensive piping systems, water supply, or an extreme temperature-controlled environment. A flat space, and a mop or some small floor cleaning equipment, is all it takes to set up and maintain a synthetic ice rink for years.

How to Get Started

Prepping for your rental rink takes a few simple steps, and these include:

Pick a location and design your rink

The experts at KwikRink are ready and able to develop a custom synthetic ice rink that will make your business property stand out from the rest. From a small square area for a hockey drill zone in an arcade to a square space that fills a ballroom, to a lazy winding river of ice twisting and turning its way around your grounds, KwikRink can make it happen.

Pick your accessories

Once you have designed a standout rink, choose the accessories you need to finish the project. Decorative fencing, rubber mats, rental skates, and skate sharpeners are items you may want to consider adding to your rental agreement.

Have your custom ice rink installed and enjoy

What happens when your rental term is up, and you and your guests are loving the best amenity ever? A rent-to-own program may be the perfect option. Choose a month to month rental. When the rental period has expired, you can then determine if purchasing the items you need is a more profitable way to go.

Make your property the one to beat

Adding a custom ice rink to your business may turn out to be the best decision you ever made. It may seem an unexpected addition, but this is perhaps the best reason to go for it!

Here at KwikRink Synthetic Ice, we will help you make the most of your custom ice rink and can take care of everything from design to installation to skate sharpening. Contact us today to start your new venture, and get your business property firmly on the map!

Hockey is enjoying a boom in recent years. The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) reports that in the 18 states and the District of Columbia that play under NFHS rules, hockey participation is up from 44,669 players in 2017, to 44,933 players last year.

A surge in girls’ hockey programs since 2013 has resulted in record-setting female participation in the sport. With more players of all ages and demographics seeking ice time, rink design that’s versatile, efficient, and flexible is a necessity for new and existing hockey programs alike.

Synthetic Ice: a flexible alternative

Natural ice may have been the preferred hockey playing surface for generations, but synthetic ice allows for the exponential expansion of playing and practicing opportunities with a superior business model.

If you’re in a region where the weather is warm most of the year, a natural ice rink could be cost-prohibitive and environmentally taxing.

Regardless of the climate outside, indoor natural ice center owners must expend significant funds on creating the rink surface, as well as flooding, and freezing systems. They also must maintain the ice after freezing. That means extra dollars for Zambonis and the staff to run them.

With KwikRink Synthetic Ice, you can leave your ice rink set up for hockey and other ice sports 100 percent of the time, or you can place and remove your rink with ease for other recreational or community programming in your arena space.

Further, with synthetic ice, hockey entrepreneurs can opt for a non-traditional arena location, like converted warehouse space, community centers, gymnasiums, or other large multi-purpose venues.

Synthetic ice and natural ice quality match

Synthetic ice technology has undergone a revolution in the last decade. With new materials that eliminate the need for extra blade lubrication, skaters can lace up and go, just like on a natural rink.

As long as you maintain a clean skating surface, skater glide for hockey and other ice sports (like broomball, figure skating, and pleasure skating) is nearly identical to natural ice.

Skaters can sprint, stop, turn, shoot, and check on KwikRink Synthetic Ice just as they do on natural ice.

The small differential in glide between synthetic ice and a natural skating surface also creates a training effect in hockey players. Skaters will push off, stop, and turn with a slightly stronger muscular power stroke on synthetic ice, which develops more strength and stamina.

If and when a player has practice or a game on a natural rink after training on synthetic ice, their performance and experience will improve.

It’s a similar phenomenon to Olympic athletes who train in high altitude and compete at low altitude–they’ve got an edge over their competition because of their high-altitude physical adaptations.

More skaters, more ice demand

Skating of all kinds is emerging as a growing recreational activity, according to Grand View Research. Families with increased disposable income are looking toward ice skating as a fun and different way to hang out together, enjoy team dynamics, and compete with others.

Even though seasonal outdoor rinks in colder climes are cost-effective and environmentally friendly, their use is limited to a few months of the year. Indoor arenas are weather-independent and remain open and potentially profitable year-round.

Synthetic rinks make excellent business sense, especially for owners and managers of multi-use facilities.

Lower overhead, higher ROI

When a program director can assemble a rink of any size in minutes with no freezing time, she can run a hockey team practice for an hour a few times per week. When a practice is over, the rink comes apart, stacks, and stores for the next programmatic demand.

KwikRink Synthetic Ice tiles come apart and stack easily in an equipment closet or the corner of your programmed space. Throw a cover over the stacked tiles to keep them dust-free and gliding well each week.

Our highest quality ice tiles last up to 10 years when properly cleaned, so once you’ve invested your start-up capital in the tiles, there’s little extra cost to keeping a superior skating service for years of team registrations.

It’s easy to conclude that the ROI on a quality synthetic ice rink outranks that of natural ice. If your hockey program overhead is lower, it may also offer you more flexibility on the program fees you’ll charge in your market.

This flexibility could make your program accessible to a wider cross-section of players who may not otherwise have tried the sport. Growing your hockey audience by making the sport more accessible to different players creates a reliable revenue stream in uncharted hockey territory.

Expand your synthetic ice rink revenue with additional services

When you’ve opened your KwikRink Synthetic Ice rink, you have expanded opportunities for revenue. With hockey and other ice sports forecasted to grow in participation, opening a hockey program or arena makes sound business sense.

Providing skate rental, private and group lessons, other skating activities like open skating, figure skating, and broomball leagues add to your profit while keeping customers engaged and confident in their developing skating skills.

Your creativity and the people on your team have the freedom to innovate new ice programming as the seasons roll by. Chances to cater to your hockey parents while their kids skate, parties and events, and other community engagement tools offer still more revenue streams to your growing hockey empire.

KwikRink Synthetic Ice: Your partner in custom rink design

Whether you’re building a regulation ice arena pad from the ground up, or re-purposing a multi-use space, KwikRink is your partner in creating the custom synthetic ice rink that meets your business needs. Call us today to begin planning the rink of your future.

If you’re a hockey parent or relative, you know the equipment demands of the sport are endless. Between pads, gloves, sticks, skates, and more, hockey players go through equipment with each growth spurt if not every season.

The holidays can be an effective way to combine gifts your team member wants with items they truly need.

So from safety equipment to your own home ice skating rink–check out KwikRink Synthetic Ice for a sneak peek at that one–read on for the 10 Best Gifts for Hockey Skaters.

Drum roll please–the list

Check the following list twice for a hockey holiday for the record books. When in doubt about sizes, opt for a gift card in the value of your selected gifts.

All the safety equipment. Holidays are the perfect time to refresh or resize your player’s equipment. Switching out pads, helmets, mouthguards, gloves, and any orthopedic joint braces or wraps will keep your player in tip-top shape for games and practices alike.

Skates. If you know your skater well enough to discover their brand preferences and sizes, pick up a pair of skates to wrap for him or her to open. If your skater is further away and you’re not privy to her skating specifics, a gift card from Total Hockey or a local sporting goods store will do the trick.

Skate sharpener. When you want a gift that fits every player all the time, choose a skate sharpener. Sharp skates give players an–ahem–edge over the competition. Help your hockey player skate their best with sharp skates, conveniently. We like the Sparx sharpener line. If you have multiple players at home, you’ll enjoy the convenience of a sharpener at your fingertips.

Snipers Edge PassMaster. Once you have your home ice rink set up, your player may need a little help with drills. The Snipers Edge PassMaster acts like a second player to pass the puck back to you. This training tool works on any flat surface and performs well on KwikRink Synthetic Ice.

Sticks, sticks, and more sticks. Sticks break, wear out, and generally get beat up all season. A few new sticks waiting in the wings is never a bad idea. Plus, when friends come over to enjoy your home ice rink, you’ll have enough equipment to go around. We like Pure Hockey’s selection at every price point.

Hockey nets. It’s hard to play or practice hockey on your home ice rink without a net, so grab a couple to add to your reveal. Try Franklin Sports for an ample selection.

A refreshment fridge. Having a small refrigerator rink-side allows your players to hydrate without any breaks in the action. We like Wine Cooler Direct for their selection and pricing.

Anti-odor detergent. Any hockey parent knows how hard it is to stay on top of the notorious hockey stink. Stuff your players’ stockings with a hefty supply of anti-odor detergent. We like Rockin Green Activewear laundry detergent for super tough odors. Your family will thank you, and your players won’t scare away their practice mates and friends.

A brand new bag. When it’s time for the whole team to gather for games and drills, your player will love a little swagger with a new hockey bag. Check out Pacific Rink for everything from a casual pond pack for a leisurely outdoor hockey afternoon, to their top-of-the-line pro hockey bags for your skater.

A home ice skating rink. Did we drop enough hints about what this last gift idea would be? Every hockey player dreams of having his own ice, in a temperature-controlled paradise, with plenty of refreshments and a big screen TV steps away from the play or practice surface. Our best gift recommendation for the hockey player in your life is a custom synthetic skating surface from KwikRink Synthetic Ice.

Synthetic Ice: The best way to stuff a hockey player’s stocking

It’s a big-league dream, right? Only the pros could make this vision a reality. If you’ve got a garage, a basement rec room, a flat parking pad, or even a level yard outside, your home ice skating rink is just a few clicks away for the holidays.

Even though we admit you’d need a pretty large stocking, installing synthetic ice from KwikRink is just as easy as dropping candy treats into the socks hanging from the mantle.

Our custom-cut ice tiles fit together effortlessly like puzzle pieces, and stack and store in your closet, garage, or on the floor efficiently.

You and your elves can send your little Gretzky’s off to slumber, while you set up the rink. No tools required, just place the custom-measured-and-cut ice tiles on the floor and tap the seams until secure.

When the skaters come down in the morning, be sure to have your camera ready and their skates nearby to capture the oohs and aahs of your big reveal.

Whether you order a few square feet of practice space or a garage-full of ice tiles, you’ll be on the “nice” list for years to come with a gift of KwikRink Synthetic Ice.

Think a home ice rink is out of reach? Think again.

No matter where you live, work, or play, KwikRink has a Synthetic Ice System to fit your space and hockey needs. We custom-fit your rink to the space you have available, from a few small tiles in your home to a warehouse floor.

Our ice tiles are low maintenance, easily set up, and they break down and store effortlessly for nimble space conversion. All you need to keep the tiles slick is a spritz of spray cleaner and a wipe-down with a soft cloth. Make a hockey rink just about anywhere with KwikRink Synthetic Ice.